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Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Akagi Chapter 165

Right back to Volume 19 we go! When we last left Akagi, he had an awful hand that was closer to Kokushi than anything else, but even that was far away. Meanwhile, Washizu's hand was also a Kokushi hand, but of an entirely different caliber; it was remarkably close to winning from the very first draw, and seemed as if it could reach Tenpai in a matter of turns! How will Akagi combat this frightening turn of events?!

Thanks to Doc for the cleans, and to Kazuhiko for typesetting the chapter despite having his family watching a spanish soap opera in the background. Por que indeed. Mahjong Day will be Saturday at 22:00 GMT, 2:00 PM PST, as usual.

Also, there's been a bit of discomfort in the comments about our decision to move back to volume 19. I never intended to continue through to Volume 9 from the very moment I suggested we let Doc practice on Volume 8, it was always my intention to move back to volume 19 and continue the story that way. The only reason we'd be going back to 9 is to train another cleaner since they are easier to clean than the later parts, so under the current circumstances there is no reason why we should need to move back.

"There's no one alive that can stop Washizu-Sama! Not even if that someone is a demon incarnate!!"

So, while most of this chapter was Yoshioka and the rest of the White Suits praising their Washizu-Sama as the new messiah, Washizu and Akagi each get two draws over the chapter, counting Washizu's 14th tile that he drew for his starting hand as one of those draws. And even in just those two draws, the momentum of the round is clearly shown to support Washizu; he goes from 3 Shan Ten to 1 Shan Ten for Kokushi Musou in those two draws, while Akagi's hand does not move from its starting state of 5 Shan Ten. They are truly worlds apart right now; it seems as though, if everything remains as-is, Washizu will easily complete his hand first, possibly even through a Tsumo, and continue his dealer turn with another Honba if nothing else.

As I mentioned, the better part of this chapter is taken up by Yoshioka and allies singing praises of God's chosen one, Washizu Iwao. Nobody else on earth could have done what he did in the round with the Double Yakuman, and if the end of the chapter is any indication, Washizu's pre-session negotiations were awe-inspiring, as well! Washizu-Sama has already won, so there is no need to worry any more for them. All that's left is to finish off the session and seize his reward in Blood!

You should really start watching and reading Akagi, if you liked the previous arc of kaiji... Theres about 1,5 volume of the manga which isn't translated anywhere but you won't need it because the anime covers these parts.